


A Cup of Tea

by HatsForBreakfast



Category: Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Character Development, Established Relationship, Human AU, M/M, References to pseudo-incest, Relationship Issues, Separation and Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:25:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2672003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HatsForBreakfast/pseuds/HatsForBreakfast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Thor finds his estranged brother Loki, he discovers that they are lost to each other and they may never fit the way they used to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Cup of Tea

The knock on Loki’s door startled him, but it was the familiarity of the heavy knuckles that sent a jolt of electricity to stump his heart. He set the half-full kettle to the side of the sink and shut off the tap. Pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders, he slid the deadbolt back and opened the door. 

Thor. He knew it was, but there was a presence that came with the hulking blonde that tended to stop normal breathing functions. Loki resisted the urge to shuffle his feet aside and he stayed his ground, the doorknob gripped in his fist. 

“Yes?” 

Thor took a deep breath. His eyes met with Loki’s for a second before skipping downward to rest his gaze somewhere about Loki’s chest. He couldn’t seem to look at Loki directly, but it didn’t stop him from trying to come in. Thor took an automatic step forward and Loki didn’t move. 

“Is there something I can help you with, Thor?” 

Forced to meet Loki’s eyes again and justify his close proximity, Thor said, “I’ve missed you.” 

Loki exhaled a breath before stepping aside in a decision he already regretted. 

“Come in, then. You’re already halfway there.” 

Loki tightened the blanket around his shoulders so the ends didn’t trail on the floor behind him. He left Thor at the door in favour of finding respite on the couch. Loki fell into the cushions and his legs curled up underneath the warmth of the blanket. He propped himself up against the armrest to see Thor shut the door and kick off his winter boots before hesitating and placing them to on the door mat. He shook off the dark woolen pea coat and looked for a place to hang it before hooking it on the back of the door. With his hands freed, he took a glance around Loki’s apartment. There was no familiarity in Thor’s eyes as he lingered on Loki’s décor and furniture, nothing that would’ve given Thor any clue that this had been Loki’s home for the last six years. 

“You’re sick,” Thor said. He was looking at the blankets tucked around Loki, but he had seen Loki’s red nose and a complexion paler than he remembered. 

Loki wiped his nose with a tissue. “What gave you that idea?” 

Thor moved around Loki’s apartment, not sure where to rest. He looked at the small cluster of photos on Loki’s end table, but he didn’t linger on them—there was no one he recognized aside from Loki. 

“I saw your picture,” Thor said, sounding far away. “That ad on the subway for H&M.” 

Loki struggled to tuck the ends of the blankets under his feet. “That? Oh, the November shoot. Grueling bit of work, but it pays the bills.” 

“You were rather… unclothed for the poster.” 

Loki’s laugh was a blunt, hard sound. “So that’s the one they went with. I figured that the faces I was pulling by then would’ve gotten my photos scrapped.” 

“I’m pretty sure no one was focusing on your face.” 

Thor’s expression was tight, but not judgmental. Loki looked away and stopped fussing with the blanket. 

“That’s sort of a prerequisite for an underwear model, Thor. I’m sure you weren’t distracted enough to notice the ugly pout I wore.” 

Thor’s cheeks flushed pink and he turned away to examine more of Loki’s home. He took a few steps in the direction of Loki’s kitchenette and peered in. Not much of the brother he recognized was anywhere to be seen. 

He looked back at Loki. “Underwear model, that’s new.” 

Loki was seized in a coughing fit when he tried to speak. Thor watched, unsure of what to do. Too much time had passed and made their puzzle-piece edges jagged, so he stood there unable to help. Loki gave one last choke of a sound before getting to his feet. Thor started to action. Before Loki’s feet could find his ratty slippers, Thor had stalled him with a few steps forward. Loki looked up and they both realized that they had breached the boundaries of a personal space bubble they hadn’t known existed. Thor backed away too quickly. 

“Let me get you something for that cough. Tea, right?” 

Loki nodded. “Yes. I had started one when you knocked. The mug is on the stove top.” 

Thor touched the things in Loki’s kitchen as if they would implode in his hand at any moment. From where Loki was resting, he could see part of Thor’s back if he shifted the right way, but he otherwise Thor was left to fend for himself. Thor set the kettle on the burner and turned up the gas. He needed something to start the spark but after his accidental invasion of Loki’s space, he was uncertain if rummaging around would break the same delicate balance. He dithered on the spot, feet shuffling on the floor as he tried to use only his eyes to find a lighter or a match. 

He pulled the cabinet drawer open with a finger, careful not to touch more than necessary. Inside was a barbeque lighter and Thor picked it up, flicking the flame to life and setting a ring of fire around the base of the kettle. With that small victory under his belt, he exhaled and looked around Loki’s space. It wasn’t bad, certainly livable, if a bit unaccommodating for Thor’s size and lifestyle. But it suited Loki in a way Thor hadn’t realized until now. 

The cozy necessity of the place. Rooms filled with what they needed, small touches of sentiment around his apartment. Different from Thor’s luxury, but a home all the same. The furnishings were chosen carefully, everything ran from Loki’s taste. Even the twisted green tea kettle, wrought from iron with a stippled design over the sides. Thor’s lips curled faintly. He had seen Loki in things that there was no Loki in. The tea kettle was probably just a sale item Loki had picked up on a whim. Or maybe not. Thor didn’t know any more. 

The curl in Thor’s smile faded away and the soft lines on his forehead deepened. He peered at the mug, relieved to find a teabag sitting inside. One less item to hunt for in this foreign urban land. The kettle gave a high, shrill whistle and Thor poured hot water in the mug. He let it brew strongly as he looked for the cream in Loki’s fridge. Thor pulled out a round tub of butter as well. He found a spoon in the drawer next to the one with the lighter and plucked out the teabag once the tea had darkened the hot water to near black. Thor found it strange how the muscles of his hands had memories he had forgotten. His fingers trembled with the realization of just how long it had been since he had last made Loki tea. He poured the cream and scooped a spoonful of butter into the tea as well. Thor put everything back where he had found it, the way he had found them and he picked up the steaming mug to carry back to Loki. 

When he handed him the mug with a gentle, “careful, it’s hot,” they found that this small act had lowered the boundaries they had transgressed earlier. Thor decided to try sitting on the end of the couch that Loki rested upon. Without thinking, he pulled the edge of the blanket and tucked it under Loki’s feet. His fingers brushed over the heel of Loki’s foot and the momentary contact was the first touch that they had had in years. 

“Sorry,” Thor said. He was ashamed and his fingers burned where he had touched Loki’s skin. 

Loki’s gaze rested on Thor a second too long before he took a hesitant sip of his tea. He glanced at Thor over the rim of his mug and saw Thor looking at the magazines on Loki’s coffee table. Some of them had shoots he had done, but a few were business magazines that he had bought to keep record of Thor’s inheritance. Loki hoped that Thor wouldn’t notice. 

“There’s butter in here,” Loki said. 

Thor’s attention swiveled to Loki. His nerves were tapped at the sound of Loki’s voice, and Loki couldn’t recall Thor ever being this attentive. 

“Oh,” Thor said. “Yeah, um. Mother used to put it for when we were sick. I just figured…” 

Thor stopped at the look on Loki’s face. He was shot elsewhere at the mention of Frigga. Loki’s eyes were seeing something Thor couldn’t process and from the faint lines around Loki’s mouth, Thor could tell that he was in pain. 

“I’m sorry,” Thor said. “I didn’t mean to bring her up.” 

Loki blinked and he was ripped back to the present. He held the mug in both hands to warm himself. He turned to Thor, and a slow smile spread across his face. 

“It’s good to see that you’ve picked up some humility.” 

Thor’s laugh was stilted. “Yeah, I guess life kind of beats the arrogance out of you.” 

Loki’s gaze lingered a touch too long on Thor. In a moment, he saw the hardships of Thor’s life: the athletic scholarship past its due date, the charming grin failing against old businessmen, the fiery temper costing him millions in broken deals. Loki didn’t stay on that track. He had a stomach bug; he didn’t need anything infecting his head right now. 

He sipped his tea. The butter went down smoothly and soothed his scratchy throat. Thor was looking at the ancient television set Loki had in the corner of the room as a small table for his mail and keys. Loki turned to glance back at it and frowned. Since leaving home, he hadn’t had the comforts Odin had afforded them, but he had bought the set thinking that he could repair it and get basic cable. He had been wrong, and the fuses to fix it required more than what he had paid, of course. 

“Is there any particular reason you dropped by, Thor?” 

Thor’s head turned to look at Loki again. He shrugged with one shoulder and glanced back down at the magazines on the coffee table. Loki’s heart gave a stuttered thump when his eyes stayed too long on the table. 

“I’ve missed you.” 

“You’ve said.” 

“I miss you.” 

Thor’s fingers brushed over one of the glossy magazine covers and Loki knew that he knew. 

He looked at Loki. “I saw that ad a week ago and I fought with father to let me track you down.” 

It had been six years, but Loki still couldn’t repress the soft noise in his throat at hearing mention of Odin. He coughed to cover it and took another sip at his tea. He stared at Thor, wondering at the forces that moved him to such vulnerability. 

“So, how’s the old man?” 

Thor pushed a thread of hair back behind his ear. 

“He’s okay. Hasn’t been the same since Mom left, but that’s probably his own fault. He’s still a ballbuster, if you’re wondering. He hasn’t let up on me since I took over.” 

Loki’s mouth curved into an asymmetrical line. “I can tell.” 

Thor’s eyes shone with curiosity. “Mm? How so?” 

Loki’s pause lasted a second too long. “You’ve lost what made you Thor. You grew up. I mean, we both did, but there’s something wrong with how you got to be who you are now.” 

“Thanks.” 

Loki spared him a look from the corner of his eye. He set his mug down and pulled his body forward. The blanket fell from his chest as he faced Thor. 

“I don’t mean it like that—” 

“Of course you do. You’re Loki. I just figured you’d have had a better way to spin it.” 

Thor’s body had begun to relax only to close up on itself when Loki spoke. He was beginning to think he remembered why they hadn’t seen much of each other for the last six years. Loki saw Thor’s shoulders straighten and his hands fold in his lap. 

“We’ve both changed from what we remembered.” Loki spoke. “Are you here to simply reminisce?” 

Thor pressed forward at that question and leaned until he was able to look into Loki’s eyes. Loki tried to scramble back, gripping the blanket as a pretense for his action. 

“Don’t want you to get sick, Thor—” 

“Fuck sick. Fuck all of this. You mean to tell me that you cannot think of one single reason why I’d want to see you?” 

Loki’s mouth twitched; a fragmentary lapse of fear. He reached for his mug but Thor’s voice held him back. 

“I came because I still love you. I always love you. There’s not a moment in my life where I _haven’t_ loved you. And I know we didn’t end on the best terms, I know it was shitty for you, but it I haven’t had the best time of this either.” 

Loki’s hand fell from the forgotten tea. “Yeah, Thor? You haven’t had a good time. I wonder why. You lost a brother who would’ve helped you run your father’s company, poor you. I was kicked out of the only home I had, cut off from all of _your_ family’s money and security and I suddenly had to learn how to make a living from anything I could do. You don’t even want to know some of the things I did.” 

Thor’s face went lax and Loki spied a small frown before Thor turned his head. 

“I am sorry, Loki. For what that’s worth, if it’s worth anything to you now. You’re right, I don’t know what you had to do to survive but I’m sorry that you had to do anything you didn’t want to. I’m just—” Thor glanced at Loki to see him reclined against the arm of the couch, watching him with loveless eyes. 

Thor stood. “I’d better go, actually. I seem to have taken up enough of your time as it is. Um, feel better, Loki.” 

Thor gave a small nod to his brother and moved to the door to put on his boots. Loki hesitated but he threw the blanket from his body and got up. He coughed and Thor looked back, offering a failing smile before he turned back to wrestling with the laces. 

“Wait a minute,” Loki said. “You might as well stay until we’ve said what we have to say.” 

Thor straightened back up and watched Loki for an indication that he was serious. 

“If you’re sure,” Thor said as he put down his wet boot. 

“It’s okay. Did you want anything to eat or drink?” 

“No. Thanks.” 

Loki went back to the couch and wrapped himself back in his blanket. Thor sat on the armchair across, not willing to risk letting their proximity lower his guards again. Loki hadn’t looked changed for any of his declarations, and staying probably wasn’t a good idea, but it had been so long since he had last seen Loki, he couldn’t be sure of the next time. 

“You mentioned mother leaving?” 

Thor’s lips creased together and he nodded. “Yeah, it was after father kicked you out. She disagreed with what he had done and they fought about it every day. There was a point where I was sure it would get physical and someone would go too far. Mom must’ve seen it as well, and she left. She was heartbroken to see you go.” Thor said. “We both were.” 

Loki’s expression took on an unattractive twist. “Was he sorry then? For what he’d done?” 

Thor didn’t keep Loki’s gaze and he lowered his head as he thought of how Odin had reacted. He had been angrier at Loki, targeting him as the source for Frigga’s departure, citing himself as the hero for not having told her what her boys had been doing behind their backs for fear it would ruin her like it had him. 

“He wasn’t sorry.” 

Thor heard Loki’s cough and it lasted longer than the previous ones. It tightened his chest to hear. Loki, no matter how badly he had been treated by Odin, had still cared somewhere enough to carry an ache for Odin’s forgiveness and regret. If not for his own sake, then for Loki’s, Thor should’ve left when he had the chance. 

“How is she?” Loki asked, getting over his coughing fit and looking directly at Thor. 

“Mother is…” Thor said. It had been a while since he had seen her, but she emailed him almost every day at work. 

“Mother is well. She misses you like nothing else. I don’t know that she would miss me as much if I was gone. But she doesn’t have the resources to track you, not since she left. And she’s ashamed, I think, for letting father kick you out and for trusting his judgment.” 

“Oh,” Loki said. “She would miss you, Thor. She probably misses you now, but she can still talk to you and that’s the difference.” 

“Would you talk to her?” 

Loki was silent for a minute. “I don’t know. Maybe.” 

Thor nodded. “I understand.” 

“It’s been a while,” Loki said. “I’m not the son she remembers. I’m not the brother you remember.” 

Thor studied Loki before saying, “But you’re still the brother I love, Loki.” 

Loki gave an indelicate snort and raised his cooling tea to his lips. He looked at Thor through the corner of his eye and lowered the mug. 

“What? Really, Thor, you expect me to believe that? You don’t even know me anymore and last I remember, when you were given a choice of me or sinking your claws in daddy’s empire, you didn’t pick me.” 

Thor’s eyes skittered away. There wasn’t a whole lot he could say in his defense. 

“I chose wrong, Loki. But I won’t deny that I did make that choice. It cost me a lot; every day to be without you. We were young, and I didn’t know what I was choosing. I thought I could get the company now and work on father to bring you back later. If I didn’t, I closed the door on making a lot of good for a lot of people, and I didn’t think my happiness was any more important than the happiness of the millions under my protection.” 

Loki was quiet and he held the cool mug of tea in his hands. He downed the last bit of it but refused to look at Thor when he was done. 

“It’s been six years, Thor. Why now?” 

“I don’t have a good answer. I can keep saying that I missed you, but you don’t seem to believe that. I saw the H&M ad and it gave me relief, that you’re okay, or that you’re okay now. And I missed you, I wanted to see you.” 

Loki tipped his head up to assess Thor’s honesty. “You’re sure that’s it? You missed Loki, not Loki’s ass?” 

Thor shook his head. “You haven’t changed, Loki. Not as much as you think.” 

Loki shifted on the couch, tucking his legs closer to his body and pulling away from the situation. 

“I missed everything. I missed the memories, when we were boys running around dad’s office and sneaking into combat training. I miss our first time, when we first kissed. When we found out you were adopted, and we felt relief that we hadn’t gone further. When we did go further. When you’d come to watch my training in the simulation room. When you’d creep into my room at night when you had a nightmare. I miss what we had, and you trying to make me feel worse by cheapening my words won’t change that.” 

Loki’s voice was small. “I miss the sex, too.” 

Thor laughed, a soft chuckle that echoed in Loki’s ears. “It was phenomenal.” 

Loki found the courage to meet Thor’s eyes again, but only for a fraction of a second. 

“How did it even happen, Thor?” 

The remnants of Thor’s laughter disappeared as the smile fell to a straight line. He knew what Loki was asking without either of them needing to prod the stitches of an old wound. Looking at him now, Thor saw that Loki’s stitches had healed. He would need to take them out delicately. 

“I’m still not certain. But from what I’ve pieced together, I think his first hint was the empty bottles of lube in your room. I don’t know that the reputation you built up could withstand that without Odin’s scrutiny. I guess from then, it was a matter of waiting for us to slip up. That fight we had, the big one, over colleges—” 

Loki nodded, but a vacant look passed over his face. The empty void reached his eyes as Thor watched and Loki retreated inside himself with a realization still unknown to Thor. 

Thor waited for a minute, hoping the silence would draw Loki out. Loki shook his head slowly. 

“He saw us,” Loki said, distance in his voice. “There was a sliver of light on the floor that night. And I remember thinking, it was strange, you had shut it when you came in, but then… you kissed me and I didn’t care.” 

Thor ached with the memory. He remembered that kiss. He shouldn’t have, but he did. It was the first kiss after what had been their biggest fight. It had felt like breathing air after a long time underwater. The taste of Loki, after he had just finished sobbing about school and home and their fucked up relationship, had been of salt and a warmth that Thor had never encountered before or since then. He looked at Loki, saw the thin lines around his mouth that had never been there, and realized how large the hole in his heart had grown. He could stuff it full with money and worries for only so long. He didn’t want to linger on this particular sentiment. 

“I won’t insult you to ask for your forgiveness, Loki. I just wanted to see you. Despite everything that’s happened, we both know you would’ve been the better choice to run dad’s company. It doesn’t pain me to admit that. The fact that you’ve kept yourself hidden from even me shows that. You’ve got ads in the subway but you’re still able to hide yourself from our best eyes. Mom tried, you know, before she left, to get a hold of you. You’ve surpassed even her, Loki.” 

“I don’t want the job.” 

“I’m not offering one.” 

“God, Thor. Look at what it’s done to you. You were never like this. You’d never have sat still this long, looking like you’re going to step on needles at any second.” 

Thor’s smile was tilted and it didn’t reach his eyes. “I told you that I hadn’t had a good time.” 

Loki saw it. The moment that had truly broken Thor wasn’t anything that followed after he left. It wasn’t the failed take-overs or Odin’s harsh rule or even Frigga’s departure. It was Loki’s absence that forced Thor into a mould that didn’t fit, left him a sculpture with rough edges that wouldn’t sand. Poor warped Thor. Loki was beginning to think that maybe he had had the easier time of the two of them. At least he had always been able to stand alone, he had never wanted to, but he had never needed friends and hope like Thor had. And Thor had lost that when Loki left. He had carried on, as he had to, but it hadn’t been the same. 

The knotted edges of the blanket tickled Loki’s palm as he worried them in his hand. Thor had suffered just as he had and that thought made Loki uncomfortable. 

“Do you—” Thor started. “Did you, I mean, ever miss me after you left?” 

Loki’s lips pressed together a moment. He didn’t look at Thor. 

“Well, I didn’t leave, remember. I was kicked out. Miss you? I don’t know that I had the time, Thor. I was on the streets for a bit, first tried for a job, then tried for money. It was cold, so I guess I missed the internal furnace that you were.” 

Thor’s face went slack. There was an implication there that he didn’t want to touch. Loki glanced up and gave a hard laugh. 

“Yes, it’s what you’re thinking. I don’t know why it’s a surprise. You of all people know how well I can suck a cock. Decent cash in it, too.” 

Thor kept his face carefully blank, but Loki only shook his head. 

“Still so gullible.” Loki said, with a trimmed laugh. “I came close, though. Took a job cleaning instead. Honest wages and all that good shit. I suppose mother would’ve been proud.” 

Thor exhaled and the relief was visible over his face. 

“Really?” Loki asked. “You were worried over the amount of cocks that had gone in your little brother’s mouth? Or was it that you wanted yours to be the only one?” 

Thor’s brows pulled together and a muscle worked in his jaw. “Dammit, Loki. Not everything is about people trying to hurt you; you don’t need to strike before you get hit. Odin fucked up, but you can’t say you wouldn’t have expected it. You know the kind of father he was. Me, I’m sorry you had to experience anything on the streets, I resent that I couldn’t keep you farther from that life. But you can stop trying to attack me now because I don’t have any of the motives you think I have.” 

Loki was quiet. 

“But Thor,” he said. “You weren’t adopted and Odin didn’t kick you out. Whatever else you experienced, your circumstance was vastly better than mine. Even if you did choose to waste it on pining your losses.” 

“I lost a brother when I lost you. I lost a lover and a friend. I won’t deny the privileges I had as Odin’s biological son. I got the company, but I also had his disappointment. You, he was angry at, and sad because he knew you would’ve succeeded him better than I have. But the disappointment, Loki, there were days that he was so tired of fixing my mistakes that he would wish you back, wish you as his son so that he would have someone more competent to work with.” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “Wow, well, I’m sorry you were compared to me as an attempt to make you feel worse about yourself. I cannot fathom the depth of your humiliation at that—” 

Thor stood to his feet. “I wasn’t humiliated. I was hurt. Because it took _my_ mistakes, _my_ fuck ups for Odin to realize that he screwed up. He ruined the relationship with the only heir who mattered and it took me, a pathetic replacement, for him to regret it too, to regret it some days as much as I did.” 

Thor walked over to the door. Loki watched. He had nothing to say. 

“I should’ve left earlier. Clearly, this wasn’t a good idea,” Thor said. 

Loki stood up as Thor bent down to get on his boots. He left the blanket on the couch and went to stand near Thor. 

“It wasn’t a good idea,” Loki echoed. 

Thor glanced up and Loki saw the sharp curving lines around his face that aged him beyond his years. 

“Thanks,” Thor said. “I figured.” 

“Then again,” Loki said, leaning against the wall, “You’ve never really had good ideas. You haven’t changed as much as you think, Thor.” 

The corner of Thor’s lips lifted in a fleeting smile. “Thanks.” 

He turned to put on his pea coat and he had slipped an arm through the sleeve. 

“But you have always done what was best.” 

Thor stopped fussing with his winter wear and raised his head to meet Loki’s gaze. Loki was smiling; just a soft touch of a turn around the corner of his mouth, but it was enough to restart Thor’s heart with a current of electricity. 

Loki looked away. “Things aren’t perfect between us. They never were, even before we found out I was adopted. You pulled this way, I pushed the other. But there was a time when we were willing to try…” 

Thor felt like someone had peeled back his skin to watch his pulse jump. He understood the invitation of Loki’s words and nearly missed them over the blood pounding in his ears. 

“I’m willing to try, Loki.” 

Loki bowed his head in a nod. “Yes. I know.” 

Loki raised his head again to see that Thor had stepped forward and moved into his space. Loki’s eyes had widened only a fraction, but Thor was close enough to catch the minimal dilation that spelled his heart. From this angle, Loki looked like the teenager he had fallen in love with, and the colouring on his cheeks spoke to a more innocent time. 

“Took me longer than you thought, didn’t it?” 

Loki’s laugh was a soft breath of air. Thor didn’t give him the chance to inhale again. He pressed a firm kiss to Loki’s lips. They were both unsure of how far to take it, but Thor couldn’t be held back, not with a taste of Loki within reach again. His free hand, the one not hindered by the pea coat sleeve ran up Loki’s neck to grasp the base of head, tangling in his dark hair and using his position as leverage to tilt Loki’s head back enough to get his brother to open up. Loki complied easily, his mouth falling slack as Thor’s tongue worked against his. It was familiar and not at the same time and it was only a sharp sniff from Loki that brought Thor back to reality. 

There were wet tracks down both of Loki’s cheeks and the tears flowed silently as he took stuttered breaths that tensed and relaxed his chest. Thor’s features scrunched in concern. 

“Oh, Loki, no. I’m so sorry, I didn’t—” 

Loki was beginning to shake. Thor struggled with the urge to hold him close or step away. He wrapped an arm around Loki’s back and pressed Loki to his chest. 

“Shhh,” Thor said. “It’s okay, I’ll go now and we can forget this ever happened.” 

Thor didn’t let go though and Loki didn’t pull away. 

“The tea,” Loki said, voice thick with tears. “You remembered how I take my tea.” 

“Of course.” 

“We haven’t been together in over six years.” 

“But we’ve been brothers for longer than that.” 

Loki looked at Thor with damp eyes and Thor offered a tender smile. Loki sneezed and Thor’s exhale of a laugh warmed him in spots that his absence had made cold. His brother was here, maybe not forever, but for now. Thor’s hands threaded through Loki’s hair, pulling his brother to rest his head over his chest. 

“Do you want another tea?” 

“Stay,” Loki said. 

“Okay.”


End file.
